In honor of Taylor Swift dropping her rerecorded second studio album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), I thought I would weigh in my thoughts on her albums, although they may be a little shocking. She has done so much for the music industry and women everywhere, and for me personally, she always gets me through my hardest times. As someone who has been following her since she dropped her first single, “Tim McGraw” in 2006 (I was five by the way), I feel like I am very qualified for this position. Also given the fact that she is my favorite artist across all music and that will probably never change.
- Lover
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When this album first came out, I did not know exactly where I stood with my opinion on it because all the tracks were so different in style and genre, but gave off a similar message. Even though it took me a while to come around with this album, it contains my all-time favorite song of hers, “Cruel Summer”. Just recently it became my favorite and I don’t really see that position moving anytime soon. Listening to it puts me in such a good mood, even on the darkest days. My favorite songs off the album are “Cruel Summer”, “The Man”, “The Archer”, “I Think He Knows”, “Paper Rings”, “London Boy”, “Soon You’ll Get Better (feat. The Chicks)”, “False God’, “Afterglow”, and “Daylight”.
- Red
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This album exceeded my expectations when it first came out and still does to this day. Not only is the tracklist amazing, but the acoustic version of “State Of Grace” makes me melt every single time. This album could play on repeat for the rest of my life and I would not complain for even one second. The different genres of music she mashed up on this made it one of her most beloved albums not only by me but by everyone else as well. My favorite songs off the album are “State of Grace”, “Red”, “All Too Well”, “I Almost Do”, “The Last Time (with Gary Lightbody)”, “Holy Ground”, “The Lucky One”, “Starlight”, “Moment I Knew”, and “Come Back … Be Here”.
- Folklore
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When I found out that she was just dropping an album during quarantine, I may or not have squealed. It was so out of the blue and when she announced the name of it, I just knew that it was going to be a masterpiece, and she did not disappoint. It skyrocketed up my list, especially after I heard “Exile”, the song that solidified the album’s position. The songs sounded ethereal and so unreal that I fell in love with the tracklist and flow. My favorite songs off the album are “The 1”, “The Last Great American Dynasty”, “Exile (feat. Bon Iver)”, “Mirrorball”, “This Is Me Trying”, “Mad Woman”, “Epiphany”, and “The Lakes”.
- Speak Now
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To this day, I distinctly remember waiting for this album to come out. When it finally did I made my mom not only buy me the album, but also a t-shirt from Target. Almost everything about this album was perfect in my mind and to this day, there are songs from it that I don’t skip over when they come up (even nine-year-old me knew how rocking “Better Than Revenge” was). My favorite songs off the album are “If This Was A Movie”, “Long Live”, “Haunted”, “Better Than Revenge”, “Sparks Fly”, “Dear John”, “Innocent”, “The Story Of Us”, and “Enchanted”.
- Reputation
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This album came out after not hearing any new music from her in almost three years, and then her changing up the overall vibe of the album compared to 1989. When I first heard it I was in love because it was so different from her previous ones, it felt more mature in a sense. Side note, I still can’t believe Future is featured on a Taylor Swift song. My favorite songs off the album are “Dancing With Our Hands Tied”, “End Game (with Ed Sheeran and Future)”, “I Did Something Bad”, “So It Goes …”, “Getaway Car”, “King Of My Heart”, and “Dress”.
- Fearless
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This album right here had me screaming lyrics about a boyfriend I had never even had as a seven-year-old. The biggest reason why this comes in at number six is because of the title tracks. Make no mistake, I do love them, but they are not songs that I just listen to in my free time (also just want to comment that the music video for “Love Story” is perfect). My favorite songs from the album are “Tell Me Why”, “Jump Then Fall”, “SuperStar”, “Fearless”, “The Way I Loved You”, “The Other Side Of The Door”, and “Forever & Always”.
- Taylor Swift
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The sole reason why this album is right here is absolutely, 100 percent nostalgia. I remember when this album came out when I was five years old and she immediately became my favorite artist. When I listen to it I am transported back in time to the first time I heard “Tim McGraw” and saw this blonde, teenage girl on my television screen. My favorite songs off of the album are “Tim McGraw”, “Picture To Burn”, “Teardrops On My Guitar”, “Cold As You”, “Tied Together With A Smile”, and “I’m Only Me When I’m With You”.
- Evermore
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I thought about putting this album last, but the song Gold Rush alone saved it from being last. While I am still kind of on the fence about some of the tracks, I did like the feeling that I got when listening to the album for the first time back in December. Also, all of the witchy versions of Willow might have helped give the album a little bit of a boost for me. My favorite songs off of the album are “Gold Rush”, “No Body, No Crime (feat, HAIM)”, “Coney Island (feat. The National)”, and “Cowboy Like Me”.
- 1989
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Okay, hear me out. I love this album, I really do, just not as much as her other albums. But why is it nine? I put this album at nine for the sole purpose that this is the album I listen to the least. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to the songs on this album all the time, but I don’t know, it’s just not my personal favorite. For me at the time in my life that this came out, I just wasn’t really into the style … pun intended. My favorite songs off of the album are “How You Get the Girl”, “This Love”, “New Romantics”, “Clean”, and “You Are In Love”.